Synthesis 2.0? Lore Dump & Theory Thread

** THIS POST WAS EDITED A FEW TIMES TO CORRECT MISTAKES AND INACCURACIES, PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF SOMETHING ISN'T CORRECT **

Check out the images in this reddit post. Some of them have been covered in a Dreamcore video...

https://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/1ktdryv/synthesis_20/

I never noticed the wisps/threads/strings emanating from Venarius until now. They're the same as what's emanating from the portal in the expansion trailer.

There's also the compass tile pattern under both the portal and Venarius.

I highly doubt this imagery is insignificant.

One interesting bit I saw in this post was Mask of the Tribunal.

It looks an awful lot like the unnamed NPC in the trailer. Could it be Valdo from the past?

Well, let's take a look:

The Shaper is post-corruption Valdo. What if Valdo is still around and The Shaper is a projection or a facet of Valdo's personality that is given life, much like how The Elder puppeteers the Elder guardians?

In Valdo's lore, he states that he was pulled into what he initially thought was a dream, and whispers of a dead language were heard. He was standing before an altar used for ritual sacrifice of children, and thought of Zana and how he worried that she may also witness the horrors within the Atlas.

Valdo was a loving father and what do we see with The Shaper? Almost as if there's nothing there for Zana, a "Sublime Vision" decayed. The Elder's influence controlling the vessel.

Valdo states that it was as if something was trying to trick him into staying within the Atlas, hiding his shoes when he thinks about leaving. I'm probably wrong and maybe it's revealed elsewhere who or what is playing tricks, but I think that trickster entity is none other than The Originator. You may think Tangmazu, but Tangmazu was still "asleep" during this time. There's also the possibility that this was the shade of The Elder, however, the shade was trying to befriend Valdo and bestow knowledge, ultimately requesting to be freed from imprisonment. Valdo refuses and escapes, but was it too late?

Venarius pulled Starforge and freed The Elder. The map device and the esoteric knowledge used to activate it and traverse the "maps" did not originate with Valdo nor The Shaper. Valdo merely put the pieces together after Venarius demanded he do so.

I think The Elder distilled his ideal champion from Valdo's mind before he fled.

I think this fracturing of Valdo between reality and dream was a catalyst for The Shaper being ripped from Valdo's psyche.

I think we're going to meet the real Valdo.

So basically, The Shaper is Valdo's "Id".

Also, we might learn a bit more about The Watchers of Decay, the three that imprisoned The Elder within the Atlas.

I'm going to add the inevitable comment: PoE1 has lore?

On a more serious note: While I don't really care about lore directly, the "mood" that comes from lore, writing, voice acting and art style is VERY important. I'll just leave the speculations to you, I'm not hyped enough to participate just yet.

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Phrazz#3529 wrote:

I'm going to add the inevitable comment: PoE1 has lore?

On a more serious note: While I don't really care about lore directly, the "mood" that comes from lore, writing, voice acting and art style is VERY important. I'll just leave the speculations to you, I'm not hyped enough to participate just yet.

Yeah, it does a lot to flesh out the world and make it feel alive. Although you may not pay attention to it directly, you're still immersed.